1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to acoustic devices and, more specifically, to acoustic adapter devices for use with personal computers and other electronic devices with a line-in input.
The present invention incorporates a 3.5 mm stereo male connector with an integral microphone and a 3.5 mm stereo female connector input. This combination adapter allows the user to plug into a line-in input device, enabling the use of a microphone and provide means to connect another line-in connection through the 3.5 mm female connector.
The present invention is particularly useful when used in conjunction with a personnel laptop computer. This combination adapter allows the user to plug into the line-in port providing means to transmit audio though the microphone while maintaining the ability to connect to another line-in device through the female connector.
The user may adjust the microphone level after plugging the microphone into the 3.5 mm stereo line-in port of the device. In addition, the user can turn down the volume of the internal speakers to prevent feedback with the microphone.
With the relatively small ridged housing, cordless structure, and simple plug-in jack style connectors of the present invention, the user can record meetings and lectures without disrupting the proceeding. The additional port also provides the user advantages over non-users in that the non-users are not able to record while using the line-in port.
The present invention 3.5 mm female input and microphone also provides the user means for video conferencing over the internet. In addition, the acoustic adapter device can be used to mix in audio while recoding video and or audio from another device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other acoustic adapter devices. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,673,644 issued to W. W. Shoe on Jun. 12, 1928.
Another patent was issued to Bernhard Weingartner on Mar. 20, 1979 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,566. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,213 was issued to Richard E Marsh on Oct. 19, 1982 and still yet another was issued on Mar. 3, 1987 to Chrys J. Reinhardt as U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,135.
Another patent was issued to David E. Christian on Jul. 24, 1990 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,016. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,536 was issued to Robert P Ganger on Jan. 5, 1993. Another was issued to Jia S. Lin on Nov. 29, 1994 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,502 and still yet another was issued on Sep. 9, 1997 to Bill W. Carter as U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,267.
Another patent was issued to Jay Terng on May 27, 1997 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,942. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,261 was issued to Peter V. Loeppert on Apr. 14, 1998. Another was issued to Thomas F. Parker on Sept. 22, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,683 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 3, 2001 to Timothy Niece as U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,212.
The invention relates to electric switches of plug and socket type. The object is to provide improved means cooperating with movable element of the switch and the conducting wires normally to prevent the separation of the wires from the said element. The chief purpose of this invention is to provide means for preventing any strain upon said connection between the wire and binding post, when the pull is exerted directly upon the cord, instead of hand piece. The invention also comprises improved means for securing the hand piece or body to the movable element and improved means for securing the hand piece and movable element to the cable independently of the connection of the wires to the binding post.
A housing for an electric plug or the like is formed with an axial bore which tapers toward an inlet opening. A pressure member received in the bore for movement toward and away from the inlet opening in conforming engagement with the housing has a face which radially approaches a counter face in the bore for clamping a cable therebetween during axial movement of the pressure member toward the inlet opening. A tubular clamping member, substantially coaxial with the bore of the housing, carries threads matingly engaging threads on the pressure member about the axis. An abutment of the clamping member engages an external rim portion of the housing about the inlet opening and limits threaded movement of the clamping member inward of the bore, whereby the pressure member is moved axially toward the inlet opening, and a cable passing through the tubular clamping member into the bore of the housing is clamped between the face of the pressure member and the counter face.
A microphone mounting assembly including an elongated tubing, having a mounting flange including a channel for adjustable receiving said tubing, and sand sealingly received in said tubing for providing acoustic-dampening characteristics.
A generally tubular plastic collet, which is mounted coaxially in the bore of a rigid, tubular housing, has on one end thereof a plurality of radially flexible jaws that surround one end of an electrical cord that extends into the housing bore at one end thereof. A metal tip has an externally threaded shank that is adjustably threaded into the opposite end of the housing bore, and an elongate stem portion which projects to the exterior of the housing. The tip comprises a pair of coaxially disposed conductors insulated from each other in a conventional manner, and connected in the housing to a pair of wire conductors that project from the cord. The threaded end of the tip engages and urges the collet axially toward the inlet end of the housing, thereby flexing the collet jaws radially inwardly into gripping engagement with the cord.
This invention relates to a musical instrument amplifier which is particularly useful for electric guitars. The amplifier has a rigid body for housing both the electronic system for amplifying and processing signals from the guitar and the system""s power supply. An input plug connected to and projecting from the body is electrically coupled to the signal amplifying and processing system. When the plug is inserted into an output jack for an electric guitar, the body is rigidly carried by the guitar, and the guitar is operatively connected to the electrical amplifying and signal processing system without use of a loose interconnection cable. The amplifier is provided with an output jack, into which headphones are plugged to receive amplified signals from the guitar. By eliminating the conventional interconnection cable, the amplifier of the present invention can be used by musicians with increased flexibility and greater freedom of movement.
An angle connected phone plug for connection to a coaxial electrical cable without screws or other mechanisms includes a tip and wire assembly, a housing assembly and a terminal assembly all disposed coaxially along longitudinal axis of phone plug and a substantially cylindrically shaped barrel having its own longitudinal axis along which coaxial electrical cable enters phone plug. The housing assembly includes a housing base and a mating housing cap which when mated present a threaded neck at an angle to longitudinal axis Barrel is coupled to threaded neck thereby securing the housing assembly closed.
A plug-in microphone connector which includes a connector member, a connector housing engaging with the connector member by a female thread and a male thread to compress a cable put through the connector member and a cable pincher so that the cable bends a little along a curved surface of the cable pincher to be sufficiently pinched therein to prevent separation of the cable from the connector member.
An audio I/O connector, a flex cable, an audio I/O extension card, a mounting bracket, and a besel, designed to couple and complement each other in a particular geometrical manner, are provided to conduct I/O of audio signals at the front panel area of a Baby-AT/LPX and the like system unit previously sealing the hard drive bay. The audio I/O connector reorients an otherwise conventional audio add-in/adapter card to conduct I/O of audio signals through the frontal portion of the Baby-AT/LPX and the like system unit. The flex cable transports the audio V/O signals to and from the front and back portions of the Baby-AT/LPX and the like system unit. The audio I/O extension card facilities conduct of audio I/O with external audio devices at the front panel, the aforementioned area in particular. The mounting bracket secures the audio I/O extension card to the hard drive bay. The besel exposes audio I/O ports of the audio I/O extension card at the front panel area of interest.
A microphone mounting structure including a keyboard having defining a horizontal bottom chamber near the rear side and a plurality of equally spaced vertical locating grooves inside the horizontal bottom chamber, a slide carrier slidably mounted in the horizontal bottom chamber of the keyboard, the slide carrier having a pair of vertical locating ribs detachably forced into engagement with the vertical locating grooves of the keyboard, and a supporting block at the front side, the supporting block having a microphone holder mounting hole and two locating holes spaced at an angle around the microphone holder mounting hole, a microphone holder having a mounting rod coupled to the microphone holder mounting hole of the supporting block of the slide carrier, a locating rib forced into engagement with one locating hole of the supporting block of the slide carrier, and a plug hole spaced from the mounting rod at right angles, and a microphone mounted in the plug hole of the microphone holder.
A housing for shielding a transducer of the type mounted on a silicon die attached to a flexible circuit. The housing provides a jacket which protects the silicon die from physical damage. The jacket, in cooperation with the top and bottom cups, further provides a shield for the silicon die from light and electromagnetic interferences. An acoustic port located on the top portion of the jacket furnishes the means by which acoustic energy enters the jacket to contact the transducer. A back cavity, formed between the bottom cup and the silicon die, serves as the acoustic pressure reference which allows the microphone to function properly.
A headphone jack extended outlet which amplifies and splits the output signal from a single conventional headphone jack to power multiple headphone jacks. The extended outlet includes a conventional headphone plug that inserts directly into the headphone jack of a sound system and includes a multiple headphone jacks for powering multiple headsets. The extended outlet further includes circuitry which amplifies the output signal received from the sound system to a level sufficient to power multiple headsets.
A computer headphone extension device for connection to the audio output port on the rear of the personal computer and for connection to a stereo mini-plug of a headphone set. The computer headphone extension device includes an elongated electrical cord having a first end and second end. The computer headphone extension device further includes a phone jack member connected to the first end of the electrical cord for inserting the stereo mini-plug into the audio output port on the rear of the personal computer; and a receiving box device having a connecting port for connecting to the second end of the electrical cord and having a phone jack for receiving the stereo mini-plug of the headphone set.
While these acoustic adapter devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
The present invention discloses a device which incorporates a 3.5 mm stereo xe2x80x9cmalexe2x80x9d connector with an integral microphone and a 3.5 mm stereo xe2x80x9cfemalexe2x80x9d connector input. This combination adapter allows the user to plug into a line-in input port, enabling the use of a microphone and additionally providing means to connect another line-in connection through the 3.5 mm female connector. The present invention is particularly useful when used in conjunction with a personal laptop computer.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an acoustic adapter that mates a 3.5 mm line-in port, includes an integral microphone and a 3.5 mm female connector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide means to utilize a microphone while maintaining the ability to use the same line-in port for another device.
One other object of the present invention is to provide means to record a discussion or lecture without disrupting others with cumbersome setup.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide means to record a discussion or lecture without obvious presence.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide means to video conference over the internet, if the video device does not have a microphone.
Another object of the present invention is to provide means to record audio while transferring video from one device to another.
Another object of the present invention is to provide means to mix audio while transferring audio from one device to another.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cordless microphone for use with personal computers and other devices.
Still yet another object of the present invention s to provide cost efficient easy to use acoustic adapter for use with computers and other devices.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing means to add a microphone while maintaining an accessible 3.5 mm line-in port. In addition, the present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a cordless microphone that is easily prepared for recording meetings or lectures.